The Whole Story
by poyntersally
Summary: Soda falls in love with Steve's sister. See how Steve reacts, and all of the trials and tribulations that Soda and Kat go through.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Sodapop Curtis was sitting on the curb. He was waiting for his older brother, Darry, to pick him up from work. Steve, his best friend, had been sick that day, and wasn't able to give him a ride home. Soda thought that maybe it would be better if he started walking. He picked up his jean jacket and began to cross the street. Soda began to think. He thought about everything that the night reminded him of. Before he realized it, he was on his own front porch. He walked in, and Darry was making dinner.

"Hey, kid where ya been?"

"Waiting for you at the gas station."

"What?"

"I said I was waiting for you at the gas station, you know the one you forgot to stop at, to pick me up."

"Look Sodapop, I'm sor..."

"Soda, my name is Soda."

"Look kid, I'm getting tired of the way you're acting around here. You've stopped caring about what happens to yourself."

"Well hey, I figured no one else cared so why should I? Besides, my own brother can't remember to come and pick me up. Am I that easily forgotten.

"Soda..."

Soda stormed out of the house. He put on his jacket and walked to the nearest gas station. He bought a coke. He figured he would cool off and then go back home. It was getting pretty late, and he didn't want to be on the streets when the socs would be out and about. He began walking home, but got distracted by Steve, and his step-sister, Kat. They were fighting. It seemed to be a pretty heated brawl. Then Steve went out of control and hit Kat. Kat was on the ground crying, Steve left. Sodapop ran over to Kat.

"Kat, are you okay?"

He lifted her head so that he could see her face. She had a big gash across her cheek. She didn't look Soda in the eye, and he asked again.

"Kat, are you okay?"

In between sobs she shook her head. Sodapop took her in his arms, and hugged her. She leaned into his shoulder and cried. After a while she finally stopped sobbing. Then, she told Soda the whole story.

"I was going out with Randy, you know, Randy Lewis. Steve didn't like that, he said just because I was a soc that didn't mean I had to act like one. Steve's been drinking a lot now, and his temper has not been the best. He has flipped on me more than once, but this time has been the worst. I told him about how Randy planned to have me move with him to California, where he's going to college. Then he hit me."

"Kat, that's horrible, I'm so sorry I didn't know, I feel so stupid, I would have tried to do something."

"You're right Soda, you should have noticed."

Just then Soda pulled her into a kiss, she held back, but then let the kiss take her over. Afterwards, Soda took her in his arms.

"You know, you always have a place at the Curtis household."

"It would be great if I could spend the night there. Thanks Sodapop."

They held hands as they walked home. He opened the front door for her, and Darry was waiting for him.

"Where the Hell have you been, do you know what time it is?"

"Darry, not now!"

"Oh, yes now!."

"Darry we have bigger problems, so just leave your life out of this, and be considerate."

"Soda, if I am a burden then I won't..." Kat joined the converstaion.

"No Kat, Darry's just being an asshole."

"Excuse me..."

"You can sleep upstairs in Pony's room, he's spending the night at Kyle's house tonight."

"This isn't finished Sodapop Curtis."

"I told you my name is Soda! I'm not a kid anymore Darry, so why are you treating me like one?"

"Because you're acting like one!"

Soda stopped dead in his tracks, he looked at Darry with pure hatred.

"How would you know, you never did!"

With that he hurried Kat up the stairs, and helped her get comfortable in Pony's bed.

"So do you need anything else? If you think of something, don't be afraid to ask. I'm in the room right across the hall."

"Thanks Sodapop, this means a lot to me."

"No problem."

Soda got up, and began walking out of the room.

"Hey Soda, could you not tell Steve...about me staying here?"

"Sure."

She got up, and kissed him. Then he left the room. He headed downstairs, and got a coke. Darry came out of his room.

"Darry, I'm not in the mood to fight right now...ok?"

"Soda, I just don't know what's happening to you. You've stopped going to the movies, you've stopped dating, you spend some nights outside. You take your time walking home. You've stopped going to rumbles. You and Steve don't even wrestle anymore."

"Darry, I don't know. I just...It seems so short. I've realized that I shouldn't spend my time doing stupid things. Mom and Dad, Johnny and Dally, they've all showed me something, you can't waste it. They didn't finish their business."

"So, you think if you don't start any business, there won't be any to finish...is that it?"

"I guess. I'm gonna go to bed. G'Night"

"Night."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

He spent an hour trying to go to sleep. He thought about Kat. He couldn't do it. He couldn't get involved with her. In the morning, he would wake up and tell her that she could stay here as long as she wanted, but they couldn't be together. All of a sudden he heard a knock at the front door.

"SODA!"

Soda knew from the sound of his voice, it was Steve. He sounded drunk.

"SODA!"

Soda got up, and put his jeans on. He grabbed a shirt, and put that on while he was going out the door.

"Soda." Kat was in her doorway.

"Don't let him come in here." She sounded scared. He took her in his arms, and kissed her forehead.

"It will be ok, I won't tell him anything."

He headed down the stairs and opened the door.

"Hey Steve, what are you doing? Do you know what time it is?"

"Soda, you gotta come with me, Kat, she ran...she ran away. I don't know where she is, I've checked everywhere. I'm worried about her Soda."

"Calm down, I'm sure she's ok. Kat can take care of herself, she's probably over at Rachel's or something. Let's go look."

"Ok."

Soda went back into the house, and went into his bedroom to get his shoes. He went into Kat's room.

"We're going over to Rachel's to see if you are there. He's really worried about you. Maybe you should call your house or something."

"Soda..."

"Kat, I realize he hit you, and I know he has a problem but...he's sorry, people can make mistakes."

With that he kissed her, and headed for the front door. He met up with Steve outside, and they headed for Rachel's. Soda forgot to bring a jacket, and it was beginning to get really cold. Steve was complaining he had a headache, and Soda just laughed at him. Soda began to think about his and Steve's relationship. They met each other in the 3rd grade. Steve had made fun of Soda, and told him he had a funny name. Soda was used to it. Then in 4th grade Soda hung out with Two-Bit, and so did Steve. Ever since then they have been best friends, they've always been side by side. Sodapop also began thinking about how things had changed over the years. First his parents died, then he dropped out, and then Johnny and Dally died. Soda knew he wasn't the only one taking their deaths hard. Ponyboy would often cry himself to sleep, and Darry had began to get really over protective . Steve, as Soda just found out, had begun to drink. Two-Bit, had gotten a job at the movie theater and stopped greasing his hair. He had begun dating a soc. They turned onto the street that Rachel lived on, and began looking for her house. Rachel was a soc. She was a nice soc though. She was a cheerleader, and was dating the star quarterback. Her and Kat became best friends when they both met Junior year. That was the year that Kat's mom married Steve's dad. Before that, Kat lived in Oklahoma City with her dad. She spent the summer in Tulsa, and liked it so much that her mother gained full custody of her. Soda fell in love with her the first time he saw her. He couldn't believe he didn't notice the change in Steve. He had noticed the scratches and bruises on her face and arms, but he knew they weren't from Steve because she said that was the first time he hit her. They must've been from Steve's dad. Soda could hit himself for being so stupid. He looked at Steve, did he betray him? Was going out with Kat wrong? Should he tell him? Should he have stopped him from drinking sooner? He thought that Steve had just begun to drink like Two-Bit, getting wasted one night, just for fun, but no there was a problem. They came to Rachel's house. Sodapop was afraid to ring the doorbell. For one thing, it was 3 o'clock in the morning. For another they were hoodlums.

"Maybe we should go home. It's late, we could come back in the morning."

"No! I'm going to find her...tonight."

Steve loudly knocked on the door. Crap! Sodapop thought that will really make them want to let us in. An older lady answered the door. Soda then remembered that Rachel lived with her grandmother, like him her parents died. The old lady stood there, looking worried.

"Can I help you?" Soda pushed Steve behind him, and began to talk to the old lady using his best manners.

"Yes ma'am. I am sorry to bother you at this late an hour, but we are looking for one of Rachel's friends. She ran away earlier tonight, and we can't find her." He was lying through his teeth.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, but Rachel doesn't have any friends over tonight. Maybe she heard from one of them though, who is missing?"

"Kat Randall." Steve butted in.

"Oh, Rachel said she talked to her earlier tonight, and that Kat said she was staying with the Curtis'. I hope that helps." Shit Soda thought.

"Thank you ma'am." Steve said with a look of hatred on his face. As soon as the door was closed he ran into Soda. Soda was on the ground, and Steve was punching him. Soda fought back, and finally was on his feet.

"Steve, you don't understand. You need help."

"You let me worry about her, and she was at your house. What did you do to her, I swear if you did anything I will kill you."

"Well, I didn't hit her if that's what you mean Steve! At least I know how to treat her Steve! You know she hates you, she told me everything. I can't believe you. Trust me I know a lot of things about anger bud, and taking it out on someone doesn't help ease the pain. It just makes it worse."

"Soda, I'm so sorry. I tried to stop drinking, I tried to stop the fights. I just, I need help. I need help" Steve sat down and cried. Soda hugged him, and told him it was ok. He got up.

"Hey, let's go to my house, you can see her, and tell her what you just told me. With that they got up, and headed towards the Curtis' household. Steve punched Soda in the eye earlier, and he could tell it was already swelling. They got to the front door, and someone was in the living room watching TV. Soda opened the door, and found out it was Kat. As soon as she saw him, she ran to him.

"What happened to you?" She said while gently touching his swollen eye.

"Listen, everything's ok, don't panic. I'm here, and everything's ok." With that Steve entered. Holding his head down low. He had begun crying again, and then began his apology.

"Kat, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me? I realize I need help, and I intend to get it. I just...I just don't know how. Please forgive me." Kat looked from Steve to Sodapop, he couldn't look her in the eye. She couldn't believe it.

"You bastards. You don't believe he's sincere do you Sodapop. You can't even look me in the eye. And you Steve, you are unbelievable. I hate you. There's no way I will accept your apology. I hate you! And I hate you too Soda, don't talk to me. I'm spending the rest of the night here, and then I'm staying at my friend's house." She ran up the stairs. Soda heard the door slam, and turned to Steve.

"Let me walk you home."

"No! I can do it myself." He left. Kat was looking out her window, she saw Steve walk down the street, then disappear into the night.

Sodapop went upstairs he noticed the door to Kat's room was still wide open. He stood in the doorway, and heard quiet sobs.

"Just go away."

"No, I want to help you. I care about you."

"Well you sure have a weird way of showing it. Telling my brother I was staying here, then bringing him to apologize."

"I didn't tell him, we went to Rachel's and talked to her grandmother. She said you called Rachel and told her you were staying here. That's how he found out."

"Oh, where'd you get that black eye? It looks like it hurts real bad."

"I have other things than pain to worry about right now."

"How'd you get it?" Soda looked down at the ground.

"Sodapop."

"Steve, ok? As soon as he found out you were staying here he punched me. Then he began to cry, that's why I brought him here. He has never cried since I met him. I thought he was sincere."

"You were wrong."

"Yeah, I'm always wrong. I'm good at being wrong, why do you think I gave up school?"

"Soda, you're not always wrong. You are smart, you shouldn't of had to give up school."

"Oh, so now you're blaming me being dumb on my parents. That's real nice."

"Sodapop, what's wrong. I didn't say anything like that."

"Look, Kat I don't think we should carry on like this, I think that whatever happened tonight was a mistake, and let's just act like it never happened...ok?"

"Sodapop, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, now leave me alone. Good night."

Kat sat in her bed thinking about what had just happened. She looked at the clock, and it was almost 5. She decided to try to get some sleep. She had school in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kat woke up to the alarm. Surprisingly she had slept good. She looked into Soda's room, and didn't see him in there, so she headed downstairs. She couldn't find him there either.

Darry was cooking breakfast, and Two-Bit was sitting on the couch.

"Where's Soda?" Kat asked afraid of showing to much emotion.

"He went to work already." Two-Bit answered.

"What some breakfast?" Darry asked.

"Oh no, that's okay. I think I'm just gonna head off to school. Thanks anyway." She didn't intend on going to school. She intended on going to the DX station that Soda worked at. She found him moving tires.

"Sodapop, I need to talk to you." Soda looked up, and smiled.

"What about?"

"Last night." Soda looked down.

"Look, I'm sorry for the way I acted. I don't think last night was a mistake. It's just, I've learned that in life things happen unexpectedly, and you are left with things unfinished. I don't want to be left with things unfinished. So I don't want to start anything."

"Soda, that's crazy."

"It makes sense to me."

"Soda, you will always have regrets no matter how hard you try not to. You will never be perfect, but I'm pretty sure they're looking down at you right now thinking you are perfect. All of them." Soda looked at her with his big blue eyes. She could she them beginning to tear up.

"Do you really think that?"

"Yes, and I think you're perfect." With that they kissed. Then she headed off to school, and Soda went back to his job.


End file.
